This luxury residence just became the most expensive home in America

Built in 1991 on five acres of land in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, the house is a staggering 56,500 square feet and has 123 rooms, including seven bedrooms and a service wing. The listing refers to it as the largest residence in Los Angeles.

The mansion has a long pedigree, as it was previously owned by Candy Spelling, the widow of producer Aaron Spelling. Spelling listed the property for $150 million in 2008.

It was eventually sold to Petra Stunt, the daughter of Formula One racing billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, for $85 million in 2011. Stunt tried to offload the property for $150 million in 2014, but a report says she declined a matching figure in 2015.

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While most people associate the Playboy Mansion with scantily clad playmates and sex-fueled debauchery, it served as the childhood home for Hugh Hefner’s sons.

Now 23, Hefner’s youngest son, Cooper, recounts his childhood spent in what many consider to be a sort of adult fantasyland. For Cooper, it was quite the opposite: a child’s wonderland fueled by Indiana Jones-inspired adventures in the Grotto, a zoo full of exotic animals, and epic games of hide-and-seek played in the mansion’s private forest of redwood trees.

Basketball legend Larry Bird isn’t a naive businessman, as he recently demonstrated with the acclaimed additions of Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young to the Indiana Pacers‘ roster.

The Hall of Famer has been president of the Pacers organization since 2013, and he has been trying to sell his waterfront home in Naples, FL, ever since. He only recently reduced the original asking price from $4.8 million to $4.6 million after three years on the market, but we imagine he has his reasons.

It could be that he and his wife aren’t eager to let go of the property they bought in 1998. Back then, they loved the Park Shore neighborhood but weren’t big fans of the existing house, so they tore it down and built their 6,000-square-foot dream house on the lot.

The Birds’ nest now has four bedrooms and six bathrooms, as well as a number of fun features, including a saltwater aquarium behind a marble-topped, full-service bar; a state-of-the-art home theater; a Tiki hut with a thatched roof; an infinity pool; and, of course, a boat dock, which is a must-have in this affluent community. Naturally, there are bay views from almost every window.

It’s obvious the Bird family is in no rush to take flight from their Florida getaway. Perhaps they’re still finding it the perfect respite from the drastic ups-and-downs of the Indiana weather. Whatever the case, we find it a bit odd that there’s no visible basketball hoop we can see on the property, but then again, maybe that’s what makes it the perfect vacation spot for this longtime NBA couple.

Aerial view

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Home theater

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Bar with aquarium

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Backyard with boat dock

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Country songbird Gretchen Wilson is selling her east-of-Nashville home complete with a professional sound studio where she has recorded several albums. The country palace is listed for $1.7 million.

“Gretchen is going to record one more album there in July, and we’ll work that out with a buyer,” says Pam Adams, who listed the home with her husband, Tony. “We’ve had at least four people who have had second visits.”

Two of the prospects are music industry folks, who appreciate the recording studio’s foot-thick walls. The other prospects could turn the studio, with a bathroom and separate entrance, into “an ideal mother-in-law suite,” Adams says.

Wilson is willing to sell the recording equipment separately.

The house, which was marked down from $2.7 million, sits on 16 acres about 25 minutes east of Nashville. It features four bedrooms with large walk-in closets, five bathrooms, a three-car attached garage plus another three-car detached garage, and indoor and outdoor fireplaces.

Adams says Wilson has already bought another home closer to the music and drama school that her 15-year-old daughter, Grace, attends.

Wilson’s 2004 debut single, “Redneck Woman,” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s country charts and won a Grammy. The title single for her follow-up album in 2005, “All Jacked Up,” became the highest-debuting single for a female country artist.

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Stuck in your cubicle dreaming of a beachfront vacation? We just found your dream home.

Listed for $2.6 million, this modern beach oasis in Islamorada, FL, is summer-ready with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a vast sandy beach.

Because you’ll spend an equal amount of time on the water, boat storage is paramount. This place has you covered with a splashy twist for nautically inclined buyers. Once you’re done with a day on the ocean, you guide your vessel back into your private channel. After you dock, a pair of lifts “hoist your boat straight up out of the water and move it forward so it can be stored safely under the house.”

On the home’s main floor, an open floor plan with plenty of windows makes the space feel bright and airy. The exposed beam ceiling gives the place a vintage, fun vibe. And, of course, there’s a giant kitchen with plenty of space to cook your freshly caught fish and a wine fridge to chill those after-dinner drinks.

And all that sun won’t get you down, even in a record-breaking heat wave. The home’s angled design helps the ocean breeze pass through, keeping those cooling costs down.

Upstairs, the master suite has a tropical yet modern feel thanks to the combo of wood-paneled walls and floor-to-ceiling windows. There’s also a balcony with ocean views.

At the end of the day, you can head to your enclosed sun porch and enjoy the sunset secure in the knowledge your boat is tucked away safe and sound.

Ceiling with exposed beams

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Modern and bright

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Cool and private

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Perfect sunset

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Her new 7,000 sq.ft. luxury home has a combination of traditional and contemporary design, with five baths, six bedrooms, and a fireplace inside the master suite.

‘Today’ Host Natalie Morales Picks Up $6.8M Brentwood Home

Light wood floors stretch throughout the main floor, and a wall of folding french doors leads to an outdoor entertainment space with a pool. The spacious kitchen has an oversize island, and the formal dining room is next to a wine wall set within tempered glass. The home came on the market in… Read more at Realtor.com

Natalie’s luxury home features sliding doors that opens up the rooms in the basement to the backyard. It also has a wine wall in the main dining area and she also has a closet that will make every woman very envious.

You’re Probably Going To Be Jealous Of Natalie Morales’ New Home

It seems Natalie Morales is trading her Hoboken townhouse for a Los Angeles mansion. The Los Angeles Times reports the “Today” show anchor and her husband bought a home in the Brentwood neighborhood for $6.8 million. The home is over 7,000 square feet, complete with… Read more at Kivitv.com

Natalie Morales buys new home in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles-area home was purchased for $6.8 million… Watch here

A work of art perched high above LA with unobstructed 180-degree views stretching from Santa Monica Bay, the Westside, and Downtown L.A. to the San Gabriel Mountains

Hacienda De La Paz

Listed by Christophe Choo of Coldwell Banker Previews International in Beverly Hills at $48 million.

Hacienda de la Paz is an awe-inspiring work of art and engineering. Positioned in L.A.’s preeminent equestrian community, the authentic Spanish estate is the only U.S. residence designed by world-renowned architect Rafael Manzano Martos. 17 years in the making, this private palace is perched 1100 ft. above L.A. at the crest of the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the 24 hr. guard-gated city of Rolling Hills; one of the safest and wealthiest cities in America.

Breathtaking and unencumbered 180-degree panoramic vistas encompass the beaches, downtown and the San Gabriel Mountains. Amenities include a 10,000 sq. ft. hamam spa fit for a king, 15,000 sq. ft. neoclassical grand ballroom, 2 tennis courts; indoor hard court & outdoor clay court, 2 swimming pools; indoor & outdoor, access to 57 miles of equestrian & hiking trails, guesthouse, bocce court, gym, yoga room, wine cellar, catering facilities, geothermal heating & cooling system, elevators, 6 car garage and motor court. Approx. 8 acres.

Hacienda de la Paz is the most misunderstood mansion in Los Angeles. When people hear that 31,000 of its 51,000 total square feet are underground, they assume it’s a bizarrely built bomb shelter. Not so, dear reader. But there is a pragmatic reason for its subterranean sprawl: local politics.

The estate is located in one of the wealthiest suburbs of L.A., a gated hilltop called Rolling Hills, where zoning restrictions prohibit homes taller than one story, so as not to block pristine ocean views.

To comply, owner John Z. Blazevich spent 17 years excavating downward to create his dream estate, which includes nine bedrooms, 25 bathrooms, a guesthouse, two tennis courts, and two pools.

Envisioning an Andalusian-style country estate similar to those in Cordoba or Seville at the turn of last century, Blazevich hired architect Raphael Manzano Martos, who restored a number of Spain’s grand palaces and served as curator to Spain’s King Juan Carlos. The regal result is the only private residence Manzano Martos ever designed in the Americas.

There’s also a 10,000-square-foot underground hammam, or spa, and a 15,000-square-foot indoor tennis court that doubles as a ballroom.

Thousands of international craftsmen were employed to make the dream a reality, including one painter who lived and worked on-site for a decade. Three hundred Moroccan tribesmen worked on the intricately carved sandstone ceiling, archways, and capitals in the hammam. Artisans from Spain created the wooden interlocking ceilings, masons from Portugal worked on the limestone bricks in the driveways, and Spanish and Indian silk and wool experts wove the custom carpets.

For some people, the joy is in the process, not the product. Once his dream was gloriously complete down to the last Valencia orange tree, Blazevich put the 8-acre estate on the market. Listed for $53 million a few years ago, the asking price was dropped to $48 million a couple of weeks ago.

However, when you actually tour the grounds, as we did (covering only part of it over three hours), you begin to realize that it’s nearly impossible to put a price on it. We’ve highlighted a few of our favorite features.

Everything the most committed foodie could desire

Blazevich is a seafood magnate, and his fiancée, Alexandra McLeod, graduated from Le Cordon Bleu. So Hacienda de la Paz is equipped with four kitchens and two kitchenettes; several outdoor food prep spaces, one with a pizza oven; facilities for pressing oil from olives harvested on the property; and more than 100 fruit trees, including lemons, oranges, avocados, figs, and, of course, olives. There’s also a large vegetable garden, and herbs are planted around the estate, even between the steppingstones, so their fragrance will rise to greet you as you stroll the grounds.

Iconic craftsmanship and artwork

There are many nods to the Catholic Church, but they are more artistic and whimsical than devotional. In the ladies’ guest bathroom on the ground floor there’s an ornately carved confessional door between two stalls, perfect for chatting. There’s also a chapel with hand-painted murals and a confessional, meant for reflection and meditation rather than ceremony. These features keep with the theme of a true Andalusian estate, which historically would have accommodated a priest in residence.

Surprisingly sustainable energy sources

Heating and cooling systems run on geothermal power, which also heats the hammam pool. Blazevich says he has reduced his energy bill and carbon dioxide emissions by 65%, compared with a conventional HVAC system. And because designers used the same classical techniques employed in Andalusia’s great estates—sturdy adobe walls and carved wooden screens covering most of the windows—the air-conditioning system is hardly ever used.

A-list fundraising facilities

Millions of dollars have been raised at charity events held in the subterranean marble ballroom (which is also a tennis court) built into the side of the hill, which has vehicle access for deliveries and exotic autos to be displayed. The 10,000-square-foot hammam with whirlpools, massage rooms, and tearooms with silk-lined walls is perfect for “ladies’ day” fundraisers. The rest of the grounds can accommodate hundreds of people at a time.

So with all these custom, luxurious features, why the heck would the owners want to part with it?

“It’s a little big for just the two of us, don’t you think?” Blazevich asks, explaining that now that his son has left the nest and the artisans have completed their work and gone home, the facilities don’t get used as much as they deserve. Blazevich and McLeod are ready to move on and spend more time with family in Croatia.

The property is so accommodating, a multitude of possible uses comes to mind: an arts retreat, a foundation headquarters, or perhaps the bastion of one of the world’s great families. We’ll keep you posted.

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